Tractional hospital litter or carriage



11v VENTORS l R/VEYJ Frank lfiaengkramer Prederzkk jioen gkramer Nov.20, 1934.

F. KOENI GKRAMER ET AL TRACTIONAL HOSPITAL LITTER OR CARRIAGE Filed Oct.25, 1932 Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACTIONALHOSPITAL LITTER on CARRIAGE Frank Koenigkramer and FrederickKoenigkramer, Cincinnati, Ohio Application October 25,

12 Claims.

lowered by the use of quick acting, noiseless, and.

simple means which are always under perfect control of the hospitalattendant, and whereby the heaviest patients may easily be handled by anattendant having ordinary strength.

Another object is to provide a device of the character stated which mayeasily be kept in a clean and sanitary condition, and which has but fewmoving parts, thereby eliminating noise and the need of mechanicalrepair, greasing, and adjustnient.

A further object is to provide for the increased comfort of those whorequire hospital treatment and especially those who require removal toand from a hospital bed or operating table.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means describedl'ierein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a plunger and cooperativesecondarycylinder forming part of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 55 of Fig. 2.

In the handling of helpless hospital patients it is often necessary toremove the patients to or from the beds, or operating or ray treatmenttables, and in the majority of hospitals these various beds, tables, andthe like are of various elevations above the floor level. Under suchcircumstances it is extremely difficult to transfer the patients fromone table to another without discomforting, and in some cases furtherinjuring the patient due to awkward methods or means of handling. By theuse of the device of thisinvention patients may easily and without theemploy ment of several attendants be transferred without manual liftingfrom a bed to another support or table which may be at a differentelevation. Due to the absence of complex mechanical means, the device ofthe invention is rendered noiseless and easy in operation, and it may bekept in a clean sanitary condition with but little effort. The improvedlitter or carriage is pro vided also with a novel and convenient form ofreclining table section which adds to the comfort of the patient andminimizes the work of the hospital attendant.

The device of this invention includes, as part of its structure, anhydraulic lift having a novel ar n emen 9 Q P P means th refo .w i

1932, Serial No. 639,468

(Cl. 254--v2) may be manipulated from either side of the device withequal facility. This is a feature which is afforded the ready and heartyapproval of hospital authorities and attendants, because of the factthat removal of patients is oftentimes accomplished in close quartersand under conditions of extreme diificulty. With the improved device,however, the handling of helpless or badly injured patients is renderedeasy and does not add to the discomfort of the patient The devicecomprises in general a chassis 6 provided with a series of casters '7,one caster being mounted for swivel movement at each corner of thechassis. At 8 is indicated a table portion which preferably isconstituted of a plurality of sections, one section 9 of which ispivoted relative to the section 10as indicated at 12. The section 9provides a reclining support for a patients back and head, and isadapted to be maintained in adjusted inclined positions by means of asuit:- able clamping mechanism indicated generally at 130.

The table sections may be supported upon a suitable framework orsupporting structure 13 composed of suitable angle iron members 14 whichare secured together in spaced parallelism by means of cross bars 15. Ata point substantially midway between the ends of the supportingstructure 13, said supporting structure has attached thereto a dependingmember which will hereinafter be referred to as a vertical secondarycylinder 16. The cylinder may be secured to the supporting structure 14by any suitable means such as rivets 17 which pass through a flange 1,8of the cylinder and the legs 19 of the angle members. The chassiscarries the primary cylinder '20 which slidably but snugly receives thesecondary cylinder 16, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 2. The primarycylinder may be fixed to the midportion of the chassis by any suitablemeans, there being shown a flange 21 which is" fixed to the primarycylinder and bolted or screwed to the chassis as at 22. In order that amaximum lift for the table portion may be secured, the primary cylindermay be extended downwardly below the plane of the chassis. Bothcylinders are adapted to contain a predetermined volume of oil or otherfluid which may be forced from onecylinder to the other in such a manneras to effect elevating and lowering of the table portion.

The mechanism for accomplishing the vertical adjustment of the table maycomprise a piston or plunger 23 which fits snugly but slidably withinthe bore of the secondary cylinder 16. A connecting rod 24 has one ofits ends pivoted at 25 to the plunger, the other end thereof beingpivotally mounted at 26 upon a suitable crank or eccentric 27. Theeccentric or crank is fixed upon one end of a rockable shaft 28 theaxisof which extends longitudinally of the chassis, and through the wallof the secondary piston 16. To the outer end of the shaft 28 is fixed asuitable'actuating member or lever 29 which serves as a pump and releaselever for controlling movement of the secondary cylinder. From theforegoing it should readily be understood that rocking the shaft 28 bymeans of the lever 29 will effect vertical reciprocating movement of thepiston or plunger 23 whereby, through the agency of a series of fluidvalves, a liquid may be pumped from the cylinder 16 and into thecylinder 20 for elevating the table portion.

Although it is possible to employ various ar-,

rangements of fluid valves for accomplishing the displacement of fluidin the cylinders, a simple arrangement thereof will be illustrated anddescribed herein. The valve arrangement may consist of a check valve 30carried by the bottom of the cylinder 16 and adaptedto be urged to a normally closed position by means of a spring or the like 31. As is plainlyevident from Fig. 2 a downward movement of the plunger will compress thefluid beneath it so as to open the valve 30 and permit passage of fluidinto the chamber 32 of cylinder 20. So long as fluid may pass from thechamber 33 to the chamber'32, the table will be progressively elevated.A proper amount of fluid is maintained within the reservoir 34above theplunger, and as fluid is displaced from the chamber 33 to chamber 32,the chamber 33 is replenishedwith fluid by the action of a check'valve35 which affords communication between the chambers 34 and 33 duringupward reciprocation of the plunger. The check valve 35 is of usualconstruction and may be held upon its seat by means of a spring 36.

When it is necessary to lower the table, the lever 29 may be movedupwardly through a circular arc until it assumes a substantiallyhorizontal position, whereupon the plunger 23 will be loweredsufiiciently to project a fluid release member or pin 37 through thevalve port 38 for unseating the valve 30 against the resistance ofspring 31. Fluid thereupon may flow from chamber 32 to chamber 33,whence it maypass through a suitable chamber or pipe 39 to bypass theplunger 23 and enter the chamber 34 above the plunger. In order that thevalve member 30may be limited in its movement to the open position, asuitable stop or limit member 40 may be provided intermediate theplunger and the bottom wall of the cylinder 16. As shown in Fig. 3, theabutment 40 may be simply a'projecting lug orv boss formed integrallywith the plunger. It is to be observed that the slot or passage 39 ismade slightly longer than the thickness of the plunger, so that when theplunger is disposed at its lower limit of travel, the fluid entering thevalve 30 may by-pass into the chamber 34 and thereby permit a slow butcontinuous lowering of the cylinder 16 and the table supported thereby.

It is important to note that the actuating lever 29 normally is disposedin a vertical plane beneath the table portion at a location midwaybetween the side edges thereof, this arrangement being provided for thepurpose of rendering the actuating handle accessible from either side ofthe carriage. Furthermore, movement of the actuating lever is effectedthrough a circular arc in vertical plane transversely of the table, andthrough a distance of approximately one hundred eighty degrees. Therelationship of the lever to the crank 27 is such that when the lever isdepending in a vertical plane, the crank 27 is dis posed at itsuppermost limit of travel. Thus, upon each movement of the lever fromthe vertical toward the horizontal positions, the plunger is actuatedfor displacing fiuid from chamber 33 to chamber 32 whereby to elevatethe table. An extreme upward movement of the actuating lever to thesubstantially horizontal position causes the member 37 to enter thevalve opening 38 in the manner disclosed in Fig. 3, whereby to effectdisplacement of fluid in the opposite direction for lowering the table.It will be noted that the pumping action'andthe releasing action aswell, can be accomplished with equal facility whether the operator isstanding at the right or the left side of the carriage.

It will be noted that a protective outer casing or housing 41 surroundsthe major portion of cylinder 20, and is spaced sufiiciently therefromto receive a sleeve or covering 42 which may move in the space betweenthe housing and cylinder 20.

The sleeve 42 is attached to the cylinder 16 at the location 43', andmay be secured in position thereon by the use of screws, rivets, weldingor the like. c

In order that the table may not rotate relative to the chassis, theunder side of the supporting structure 13 is provided with a verticaldepending bar or rod 44 which may reciprocate within a guideway 45 thatis fixed relative to the chassis. The guideway may be inthe form of aslot or opening provided in the upper end of a suitable brace or bracket46 carried by the chassis. The rod or bar 44 is fixed to the tablsupporting structure at thelocation 47. I The means for maintaining thesection 9 in .the inclined relationship may be constituted of a block orbinding member 48which is supported for slight rocking movement relativeto the sup 1 porting members 13. I The block 48 has secured within itthe innermost ends 49 of a pair of cranks 50 whereby the block may bemoved slightly about its pivotal supports 51. .The cranks ends may besecured relative to the block by means of set screws or the like 52. Ata distance from the axis of the crank ends 49, there is formed in theblock a rectangular opening 53 which receives the rectangular bar orbrace 54 one end of which is pivoted to the section 9 as at 55. Theedges 56 of the opening are readily seen to have a binding action on thebar at all times,

due to the weight of the block and the table section 9, which weightacts automatically to bind the barregardless of the inclination of thetable section 9. In order to relievethe binding action, the attendanthas merely to lift the block upwardly by means of the handle 50,whereupon the pivoted section 9 may be lowered to a position inparallelism with the flxedtable section.

In the event that it is desired to positively clamp the bar relative tothe block 48,.the operator may rotate the screw 5'7 until it binds uponthe bar 54. The screw engages a threaded bore 59 in the block, and itmay be provided with a suitable hand-wheel 60.

From the foregoing, it should readily be apparent that we have provideda hospital carriage or portable litter which has but few moving parts,is easily kept in a clean and sanitary condition, and which may beadjusted in various ways with a minimum of effort. The device has thefurther advantage that its movements may be controlled from either sideof the tablewith equal facility. The elevating and lowering action issmooth and noiseless, and there is no elaborate c mechanism to begreased and maintained in adjustment, wherefore the device isparticularly adapted for hospital use.

In order that the carriage may not inadvertent ly be moved duringtransferring of a patient onto or from the carriage, one or more floorstops or anchoring devices 65 may be secured'to the chassis and arrangedto frictionally contact the floor upon actuation thereof by anattendant. The device 65, in itself, is not a novel device and may beprocured on the market. It consists essentially of a vertically movablefriction head or button 66 which may be projected toward and upon thefloor by the application of a downward force to an actuating button 67.The device includes a clutch (not shown) which holds down the frictionhead 66 in frictional contact upon the floor, and said clutch may bereleased, by means of a release trigger device 68, to permit thefriction head to move vertically upwardly to an elevated position out ofcontact with the floor. The elevating movement of the head isaccomplished in a well known manner, by means of a suitable springarrangement.

What is claimed is:

l. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis andan elongated table portion for supporting a patient, a primary and asecondary cylinder adapted to contain a fluid, means for mounting theprirnary cylinder vertically upon the chassis, means for mounting thesecondary cylinder vertically upon the table so as to depend therefromand extend into the primary cylinder in which it has a close slidingfit; a plunger adapted for reciprocatory movement within. the secondarycylinder, a rock shaft mounted upon the secondary cylinder for rockingmovement in a direction transversely of the table portion, a crank onthe rock shaft and a connecting rod pivotally mounted at opposite endsthereof to the crank and the plunger, whereby upon rocking movement ofthe shaft the plunger will be reciprocated within the secondarycylinder, an actuating lever fixed on the rock shaft so as to bedepending vertically downwardly therefrom when the crank and connectingrod are elevated to their highest limit of travel, a check valve forefiecting fluid communication between the cylinders when the plunger islowered by means of the actuating lever, and means holding the valveopen when the actuating lever is moved to substantially horizontalpositions at opposite sides of the table portion with the plungerlowered.

2. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis andan elongated table portion for supporting a patient, a primary and asecondary cylinder adapted to contain a fluid, means for mounting theprimary cylinder vertically upon the chassis, means for mounting thesecondary cylinder vertically upon the table so as to depend therefromand extend into the primary cylinder in which it has a close slidingfit, a plunger adapted for reciprocatory movement within the secondarycylinder, 2. rock shaft mounted upon the secondary cylinder for rockingmovement in a direction transversely of the table portion, a crank onthe rock shaft and a connecting rod pivotally mounted at opposite endsthereof to the crank and the plunger, whereby upon rocking movement ofthe shaft the plunger will be reciprocated within the secondarycylinder, an actuating lever fixed on the rock shaft so as to bedepending vertically downwardly there- 'from when the crank andconnecting rod are elevated to their'highest limit of travel, a checkvalve for'eiiecting fluid communication between the cylinders when theplunger is lowered by means of the actuating lever, means holding thevalve open when the actuating lever is moved to substantially horizontalpositions at opposite sides of the table portion with. the plungerlowered, means for replenishing fluid to the secondary cylinder uponeach reciprocation of the plunger, and. means for precluding rotation ofthe secondary cylinder, relative to the. chassis. l

3. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis andan elongated table portion for supporting a patient, an hydraulic liftassociated with the chassis and table portion for varying the elevationof the'table portion, a normally vertical depending operating leverpivoted relative to the lift so as to be movable transversely of thetable portion through an. arc

of approximately'one hundred eighty degrees, i

from a substantially horizontal position at one side of the tableportion to a substantially horizontal position at the opposite side ofthe table portion, a plunger and a relief valve associated with thelift, and means cooperating to open I combination a chassis and a tableportion for supporting a patient, an hydraulic lift associated with thechassis and table portion for varying the elevation of the tableportion, a pivoted operating lever associated with the hydraulielift andnormally disposed vertically, a plunger and a relief valve associatedwith the lift, and means cooperating to open the relief valve when theoperating lever is pivotally moved to a substantially horizontalposition, the actuation of the plunger to elevate the table portionbeing accomplished intermediate said horizontal position and the normalvertical position of the operating lever, thereby rendering the liftoperativefrom opposite sides of the table portion with equal facility.

5. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis anda table portion for supporting a patient, said table portion havinglongitudinal side edges, an hydraulic lift associated with the chassisand table portion for varying the elevation of the table portion, and anoperating member for the hydraulic lift, said member being normallydisposed in a vertical positionbelow the table portion substantiallymidway between the limits of the side edges of the table portion, to beequally accessible from both sides of the table portion relative to thetractional chassis.

6. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis anda table portion for supporting a patient, a lift means associated withthe chassis and the table portion for varying the elevation of the tableportion, a single actuating member for the lift means, a mounting meansfor said single actuating member arranged for 1,

permitting swinging of the actuating member from a normal verticalposition to two substanwas lilo

tially horizontal positions at either side of the p 7 upon movement ofthe actuating member be.- tween the vertical position and either one ofthe horizontal positions, and means operating to lower the table portionupon disposition of the actuating member to one or the other of thehorizontal positions.

, 7. A.:tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassisand a table portion for supporting a patient, an hydraulic liftassociated with the chassis and table portion for varying the elevationof the table portion, and an operating member for the hydraulic liftbeing attached to and movable with the table portion, and arranged to beequally accessible from both sides of the table portion relative to thetractional chassis. i l

, 8. A tractio-nal hospital litter comprising in combination a chassisand a table portion for supporting a. patient, an hydraulic liftassociated with the chassis and table portion for varying the elevationof the table portion, and a single operating member for the hydrauliclift said member being attached to and movable with the table portionand being normally disposed in a vertical position below the tableportion and suspended in such manner ,as to be equally accessible fromboth sides of the table portion relative to the tractional chassis.

9. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis anda table portion forsupporting a patient, said table portion havinglongitudinal side edges, an hydraulic lift associated with the chassisand table portion for varying the elevation of the table portion, anoperating lever associated with the hydraulic lift and mounted formovement from a normal vertical position to either of two substantiallyhorizontal.

. portion with equal facility.

10. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassis anda table portion for supporting a patient, said table having longitudinalside edges, an hydraulic lift associated with the chassis and tableportion for varying the elevationv of the table portion, an operatinglever associated with the hydraulic lift and mounted for movement withand transversely of the table portion from a normal vertical positionbelow the table portion to either one of two substantially horizontalpositions at which the lever is disposed adjacent the side edges of thetable portion, a

plunger and a relief valve associated with the lift, means cooperatingto open the relief valve when the operating lever is moved to either oneof the substantially horizontal positions, the actuation of the plungerto elevate the table portion being accomplished intermediate eitherofsaid horizontal positions and the normal vertical position of theoperating lever, thereby rendering the lift operative from oppositesides of the table portion with equal facility;

v 11. A tractional hospital litter comprising in combination a chassisand a table portion for supporting a patient, a lift means associatedwith the chassis and table portion for varying the elevation of thetable portion, and an operating member for the lift means, said memberbeing attached to and movable with the table portion,

and arranged to be equally accessible from both sides of the tableportion relative to the tractionalchassisk 12. A tractional hospitallitter comprising in combination a tractional chassis and'a. tableportion for supporting a patient, a lift means associated with thechassis and table portion for varying the elevation of the tableportion, an operating member for the lift means, said member beingattached to and movable with the table portion, and arranged to beequally accessible from both sides of the table portion relative to thetractional chassis, and means operating upon movement of said member topositions adjacent to either side of the table portion, to lower theliftmeans and the table portion supported thereby.

FRANK KOENIGKRAIWER. Y FREDERICK KOENIGKRAMER.

